1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an improved coinslide or similar check operated device for tokens, coins or currency. The device mechanically locks to prevent retraction of the slide or operator after the operator has been forced, making it impossible to break the coinslide and then operate the associated appliance one or more times without authorization.
2. Prior Art
Vending applications typically require the customer to submit a predetermined amount of currency to make a sale. Often a particular number of specific coins or tokens are required, such as specific denominations of coins. Alternatively the device may accept alternatives and it may give back change. In a familiar vending machine type, a specific number of coins of specific denominations are placed by the customer in a coin acceptor apparatus that is wholly or partly mechanical. The coin acceptor is provided as a part of a vending machine or is appended to the vending machine in a way that is accessible to the customer for operation, accessible to a management or maintenance person who periodically removes collected coins, and is coupled to activate the vending machine when a sale is made. The parts used by the customer are as accessible as possible and the coin collection and the activation particulars are necessarily protected and secure.
The customer submits the required currency by placing coins in marked receptacles, and attempts to operate the vending machine. Typically, the successful operation of the coin acceptor moves a mechanical part and/or causes an electrical contact closure and/or generates a signal to activate the vending machine to vend a product or service, and at the same time removes the currency to a protected collection point. The collection point can be in the acceptor or in the vending machine. The acceptor and the receptacle used for collection preferably are suitably secured by stoutly constructed structural parts, locks and other such features. The coin acceptor is intended reliably to detect when the correct currency (e.g., a complement of several coins) has been tendered and to operate the vending device to vend the desired products or services only when a correct payment has been made. The acceptor also is intended to accumulate and to protect the currency tendered in successive vending transactions. However the effort and expense devoted to security are advantageously reasonably comparable to the amount at stake. That amount might be considered as the value of one vending operation, or the value of the total usage of the vending machine between service stops, etc.
In the case of a coin acceptor, the acceptor activates electrical switch contacts or a mechanical latch or toggle or other triggering event when the correct coins or tokens are submitted, and fails to activate or trigger in other situations. Coins of a given denomination can be counted. Coins have distinct dimensions (diameter, thickness and possibly shape or edge configuration) to identify their denominations. Coins may also be distinct as to their material, density, weight, color and/or other detectable aspects. Size, weight, density, ferromagnetic character, appearance and other characteristics can be sensed and used individually or in combinations distinguish among coins or tokens.
Coin acceptors and similar devices might be more or less sophisticated. It is possible automatically to make any number of physical measurements to discriminate among coins of different denominations and/or to distinguish between coins and slugs or coins of different countries. However, time consuming, expensive and inconvenient techniques may not be justified in given circumstances. The amount of each vending operation may be relatively small. Machines may be attended and watched or otherwise subjected to alternative security.
As a practical matter, coins can be effectively discriminated by their size. The most convenient and effective vending mechanism is often the well-known coinslide. A coinslide is typically a coin-size-responsive check-freed mechanism that is wholly mechanical (requires no electric power) and either permits a control in the form of a slide plate to be moved manually in a guide track or prevents such movement. When moved, the sliding plate (xe2x80x9cthe slidexe2x80x9d) or another part responsive to it, operates a control device and effects the vending operation. The slider can be moved when the correct coins are in place and not otherwise.
In a typical coin acceptor, a receptacle is provided with predetermined dimensions complementary to the expected coin size for each denomination. The receptacle may carry the coin along a constricted path as a slide is moved. The receptacle dimensions and the boundaries of the path both are specific to the expected size of the coin, and prevent xe2x80x9cwrongxe2x80x9d coins from advancing along the path with the slide to a detection point, or prevent a movable part of the device from being displaced as needed to operate the vending machine. In a coinslide arrangement for vending a washer or dryer cycle in a laundromat, or perhaps to release the balls to vend a game of pool, anywhere from two to seven coins might be called for, typically quarters, dimes and nickels.
Laundromat machines such as clothes washers and dryers are advantageously controlled using coinslides. Correct coins are needed to move a slide part of the coin acceptor to the end of its path, where an electrical or mechanical switch is located. The make-or-break contact action of the switch commences operation of the laundry device, which proceeds for one cycle of operation. The coins in the coinslide are removed and the slide is retracted such that a next vending operation requires a new complement of coins. Contact surfaces and toggling switches or other parts prevent the coinslide from being reciprocated only a short distance at the end of its stroke, which might operate the switch repeatedly. Also, there are techniques such as toggling mechanisms and the like that delay the coin drop or cause activation of the machine to await the operational point at which the coins have been collected. Some of these techniques can be defeated by breaking the mechanisms that keep the coinslide from being retracted into the starting position. This can be done in some mechanisms by using a crow bar, tire iron or other lever to pry at the end of the slide using a point on the casing as a fulcrum.
The typical laundromat coinslide is mounted on a coin collection box and protrudes from a point on the casing of a washer or dryer in an orientation where the coinslide is horizontal. Coin acceptors with similar coinslide structures also are used in devices other than laundry machines, such as games and in particular pay-to-play pool tables wherein balls dropping into the pockets are collected in a receptacle and a fee is paid to release the balls to commence a new game. The present invention is applicable to these vending situations and also to any other situation that is similarly operated by coins and a movable part such as a slide.
Coin slides as described can require one or two coins such as quarters, laid flat on the slide bar that is movable into a housing. For larger vending values, coin slides are known in which the coins are carried on edge. Coin receiving receptacles in coinslides have been made replaceable in a given slide to facilitate changing the amount to be charged for a vending operation. Exemplary coins slides are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,350,240; 4,401,202; 4,499,983; 4,515,262; 4,802,566; 4,828,096; 5,074,396; and 5,220,988, owned by the assignee of the present invention. Other examples can be found, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,155,438; 4,502,584; 5,303,808; and 5,311,975. All these patents are hereby incorporated for their specific coinslide structures.
In a typical arrangement, several coins of the same or different denominations are placed on edge in close fitting coin receptacles. This is inherently selective because a larger diameter or thicker coin cannot fit into a receptacle that is dimensioned and shaped to complement a smaller coin. When the proper number of coins are in place, the customer manually pushes-in the slide. The slide carries the coins on a path such that each coin passes between the tines of teeth in a grill-like front plate. This can be closely dimensioned to select for thickness. The slide advances to the point where the coins are within a covered housing, making them inaccessible against being pulled back out of the acceptor. The receptacle for the coin in the slide, and the path of the coin leading into the housing, define a maximum coin width because a coin that is too large will not fit into the receptacle or move unobstructed along the path. A minimum coin width can likewise be discriminated, for example by providing a drop-through slot of minimum width.
Provided the proper coins are in place, the height of the top edge of each coin is known within a predetermined tolerance. A bridge bar is mounted in the housing and provides an abutment over the path of the coins. The bridge bar is high enough to permit correctly sized coins to pass under the bridge. A coin that is too large will jam against the bridge and prevent advance of the coin slide. The bridge determines maximum coin diameter, in conjunction with the coin receptacle in the slide.
A coin receptacle position might be occupied by a xe2x80x9cwrongxe2x80x9d coin that is smaller than the nominally correct coin, or a user may attempt to operate the slide without a required coin in place. A too-small coin or an empty coin position can pass under the bridge. A number of coin operated levers are provided to sense for coin size, especially to discriminate for minimum coin size and missing coins. These levers, which can be termed feeler levers or feelers, are positioned so that movable parts of the feeler mechanism bear against the coins and position other movable parts to form obstructions that prevent movement of the slide unless the levers rest against a coin of the nominally correct size at each coin position. When a nominally correct coin is in position, the associated feeler lever rests against the coin. This places the obstruction end of the feeler lever in a position to pass unobstructed as the slide is advanced. If the coin is too small (or absent) or optionally too large, the feeler lever obstruction end encounters an obstruction as the slide is advanced, which prevents the slide from moving forward far enough to effect a vending transaction. The feeler levers test for minimum coin diameter, and inherently, for the presence or absence of a coin. The obstruction end or portion of each feeler lever can bear endwise against the obstruction, of the feeler lever mechanism can define a hook or pawl that engages an obstructions to prevent advance of the slide beyond a certain point.
If the slide is advance such that the levers do not block the advance of the slide, and the coins fit without obstruction along the path, the slide can be advanced further, carrying the coins past the bridge and other detection aspects. During the advancing stroke during which the slide contacts the necessary electrical or mechanical switch to activate the vending apparatus, or optionally in the return stroke after such activation, the coins on the slide are removed and fall from the slide into a protected collection zone in the housing. In some embodiments, a latch arrangement prevents retraction of the slide until the slide has been manipulated fully to the point that the coins have been collected. In some embodiments there is a delay involved.
Acceptor coin slides of this general type are well known in a variety of specific arrangements. A slide can be configured permanently or changeably. It can be arranged to accept standing coins or coins that lay flat. It can have various different coin testing aspects such as feeler levers and bridges discussed above. It can be operated to test for correct coin loading and/or to activate a switch or mechanism and/or to remove and collect the coins, on the inward stroke or on the outward stroke or partly in each. It can have any of a number of specific dimensional sensing levers that bear against coins or against other items that bear against the coins.
Vending machines often are unattended and are generally susceptible to tampering and attempted theft of the collected coins. Coin slides that rely on mechanical aspects sometimes can be forced to operate without the nominally correct coins inserted. It may be possible with sufficient force, for example, to pass a coin slide under a bridge that is supposed to jam on too-high coins or on magnetically-lifted ferrous slugs (perhaps bending or damaging the coins or slugs or even breaking loose the bridge). It may be possible to force a coin slide to operate with coins that are smaller than nominal, or with no coins at all, by breaking or damaging the feeler levers that are movably mounted to block the slide in the case of too-small or missing coins. The coin slide might be forced to pass through a stroke that is supposed to be blocked by structures responsive to exceeding maximum size or not meeting minimum size requirements by damaging or breaking away the structures that are intended to block operation of the slide.
It is conceivably possible to make it more difficult to break coin-dimension-responsive feeler levers or bridge structures, by making such levers or structures of thicker and stronger material. This is not desirable because it is more expensive. It tends to reduce the accuracy of discrimination between coins. It makes the entire device more difficult for the customer to operate. And for most of the life of the coin slide, when the slide is being operated normally and honestly rather than being attacked, such measures are not necessary.
A coin slide might be forced to operate and broken, for example by hammering at the movable slide part with a club or weight. This could be done when there are no coins in place, or the attack can be concentrated by hammering on the slide when only one of the required coins is missing, thereby breaking the feeler levers for the coin positions one at a time. A feeler lever might be degraded rather than broken outright, perhaps by hammering on the slide when a slightly undersized coin is attempted. In any event, if the feeler levers or other blocking devices that are intended to obstruct slide operation become broken or bent to the point that they no longer produce an obstruction, there is nothing to prevent repeated reciprocation of the slide without ever inserting coins in the broken-feeler positions. In other words, by hammering at a slide until the movable mechanical stops (e.g., feeler levers) are broken or otherwise nonfunctional, the coin slide could be converted from a discriminating coin acceptor into an on/off switch. The vending machine is operable for free, until repaired. The users simply press the unobstructed slide inwardly to operate the switch or mechanism that activates the associated machine. This might be accomplished, for example, by beating the slide in the direction of operation, using a baseball bat, a length of two-by-four framing stud, a heavy pipe, or a similar relatively heavy clubbing tool.
The feeler levers, bridge and similar coin testing structures are internal to the coin slide housing, which is necessary to protect them from interference by a person attempting to cause the slide to operate without tendering all the proper coins, by manually positioning the feeler levers. As a result of the internal and protected placement of the feeler levers, there may be no external damage or other indication that distinguishes a broken coinslide in which the feeler levers have been broken off, from an intact coinslide. One cannot practically disassemble coinslides regularly to inspect for damage. A manager might indirectly detect a damaged coinslide based on a drop in the revenue collected by a vending machine. The manager might try all the coinslides in a facility to determine whether they operate correctly not, by attempting to operate them with at least one of the nominally required coins missing. This is obviously a less than convenient way to protect from vending losses.
It would be advantageous to disable a vending machine when its associated coinslide or acceptor is broken, so that it cannot be operated repeatedly while broken and thus limits the loss of revenue. Preferably, breaking of the coinslide feeler levers or other structures would somehow be externally apparent, so as to visibly distinguish a broken coinslide from an intact one.
The solution to this problem is not immediately apparent. Among other problems, there is nothing about operation of a damaged coinslide that is functionally different than operation of an undamaged one. The difference is that the damaged one advances and retracts without coins or with an improper complement of coins. An undamaged coinslide only moves freely with the proper coins in place, but both damaged and undamaged ones having in common that nothing prevents the coinslide from advancing to its operational position, activating the vending machine and retracting to its starting position for another stroke.
If repeated operation of broken coinslides could be prevented, coinslides reasonably could be made with more precise, lighter moving parts, even parts that could be more easily broken. The coinslides would be easier to operate, less expensive and more dependable. If the coinslides were made to break in a controlled way and dependable disable operation when broken, it might be possible to reduce the collateral damage that a person attempting to break a coinslide might do to the vending machine when beating on the coinslide to break it.
It is possible to envision a vending machine disabling apparatus in which improper operation prevents further operation of the vending machine. The machine might be disabled in the event of even minimum damage or even simply from excessive vibration that might be due to an impact. Such a device would function similar to the xe2x80x9ctiltxe2x80x9d switch that disables some gaming machines. That approach might facilitate disabling the vending machine but could be frustrating for potential customers who later attempted to operate the machine honestly.
It is an object of the invention to prevent the continued operation of a coinslide or similar coin or token operated device to vend products or services after the device has been damaged.
It is an object to lock a coinslide that has been forced to operate with improper coinage, so that the coinslide cannot repeatedly operate a vending apparatus or the like in a damaged condition.
It is another object to cause a moderate or even minimal attack on a device as described, to render the device visibly inoperable and disabled.
These and other objects are achieved by a coin acceptor of the type that produces an output or operates a switch or vending mechanism when a coin acceptor slide reaches a certain point of advance relative to a housing. The slide receives coins or tokens tendered by a customer (xe2x80x9ccoinsxe2x80x9d) and carries the coins into a discriminator responsive to size, shape or the like. The discriminator can have feeler levers, a limited passage size or similar features that permit the slide to advance if all the correct coins are present, or obstruct movement of the slide if coins are missing or are the wrong type. The discriminator is breakable with sufficient force, which could break away the feeler levers or other test structures the obstruct movement unless the correct coins are in place, which would permit the slide to be operated repeatedly without the correct coins. According to an inventive aspect, a latch mechanism engages if the slide is forced beyond its normal operating span, for example because it is forced, and locks the slide in an advanced position where it remains until serviced. A frangible abutment that breaks away under moderate force can define the limit of the normal operating span. In any event, the slide locks in an advanced position and cannot be operated repeatedly without the correct coinage. Once the mechanism has been broken, it locks in a disabled position that is readily apparent to an observer. The locking employs a durable spring-loaded tenon that seats in a mortise that becomes aligned with the tenon only at a position beyond the normal operating span of the coinslide or similar acceptor. Under a moderate attack, the device locks in a manner that prevents further operation and the mechanism for locking is durable and inaccessibly placed so as to resist further attack even if the violence of the attack should be escalated.